Three people with ties to Rensselaer County government were taken into FBI custody on Thursday for allegedly conspiring to cast false and illegal ballots in the 2021 elections.
Richard Crist, 55, the county’s director of operations, County Central Services Director James Gordon, 42, and Leslie Wallace, 35, who works for the county executive’s office, were arrested and arraigned on an indictment charging them with conspiring to violate the rights of Rensselaer County voters, according to the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI Albany office.
Crist has previously served as a top aide to Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin, who won reelection in 2021.
The indictment alleges the three county officials conspired to use their positions to obtain absentee ballots in the names of voters who “did not intend to request absentee ballots, nor did they seek voting assistance,” through fraud and intimidation, the Justice Department said in a statement.
They are accused of casting false and illegal votes in the voters’ names in primary and general elections held in Rensselaer County in 2021 so as to make it “more likely that the defendants’ preferred candidates would win the elections,” according to the Justice Department.
Gordon is also charged with witness tampering, while Wallace is also charged with making false statements, authorities said.
Crist, Gordon and Wallace were arraigned Thursday before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew T. Baxter, and ordered released with conditions, pending a trial before U.S. Judge Mae A. D’Agostino, according to the Justice Department.
Each defendant faces up to 10 years in prison. If convicted of witness tampering, Gordon faces up to 20 years in prison; Wallace faces up to five years in prison if convicted of making false statements, according to the Justice Department.
McLaughlin responded to the charges with a series of tweets on Thursday afternoon that said, in part, "We will continue in our mission of improving county government, strengthening services & building a better future & not be deterred from work ahead. Our system states those charged are innocent until proven guilty & I firsthand know significance of that statement, having recently gone through a similar experience. Members of our team will have their day in court & until then, have opportunity to continue their work."
On Thursday afternoon, the Rensselaer County League of Women Voters released a statement saying it has fought to protect voting rights over the last several election cycles in relation to the County Board of Elections, and what it said was its two former commissioners’ refusal to provide equal access to minority and low-income voters in Troy.
"While we acknowledge that our laws provide for due process and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, we nevertheless view these serious charges as an affront to our democracy, which is secured by the fundamental right to vote and must be protected at all costs," the group's statement says.
Rensselaer County Women for Change applauded the FBI for its diligence on the three county employees who were charged to step down until the federal charges were settled.
"Free and fair elections are the bedrock of our democracy," the organization's statement said. "Daily headlines from around the world tell us of people fighting and dying for the right to vote. Here in Rensselaer County, that right has been under attack for years."